Information and Communication Technology 0417 (computer networks)

Section 4: Computer networks

(d) Identify the advantages and disadvantages of using common network
environments such as the internet.
(e) Describe what is meant by the terms user id and password, stating their purpose
and use.
(f) Identify a variety of methods of communication such as fax, email, and tele/video
conferencing.

COMMON NETWORK ENVIRONMENTS (THE INTERNET)

The Internet is a world-wide
system of inter-connected
computer networks. These
connections can involve
telephone lines, fibre-optic cable,
satellite, microwaves and other
wireless links. Once a computer is
connected to the Internet it can
communicate with any other
computer that is also connected and uses the standard Internet Protocol Suite
(TCP/IP). Internet can be used to:

 Send & receive emails

 Share files
 Listen to music or watch videos
 View web pages on WWW (World Wide Web)
 Communicate using voice and video conferencing

The hardware required to connect to the internet

The hardware needed to connect a computer to the Internet includes:

 A Modem - this device allows a computer to connect to the Internet via a

standard phone line. There are two main categories:
o Dial-up modem - this device modulates a digital signal from a
computer into analogue sounds which can be sent along standard
phone lines. At the other end the sounds are demodulated back into a

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digital signal and passed to a computer. Since the signal is transmitted

as an audible sound, the
phone line cannot be
used for conversation at
the same time. A data
transmission speed of up
to 56 Kbit/s is possible.
o Broadband modem - this
device also modulates a
digital signal from a computer into an analogue signal but uses a
frequency band that is much higher than that used by voice
communications, so the phone line can be used for conversation at the
same time.
A broadband modem requires a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), a
standard phone line equipped to transmit and receive the high
frequency digital signal. Data transmission speeds from 256 Kbit/s up to
4 Mbit/s and higher are possible, depending on the phone line quality
and the distance from the telephone exchange.
 A broadband router - this device allows a computer network to connect to
the Internet via a standard phone line. It combines a broadband modem,
a hub or switch and usually a firewall. It may also contain a wireless access
point to allow wireless Internet access.

Some common terminology used with Internet

Browser: is a program that allows a
user to view web pages. It is called a
Browser because web pages often take
a user from page to page on the
internet. E.g. Internet explorer, Google
chrome, Mozilla Firefox

Domain name: is the root identifier of a

website on the internet. Each domain is
associated to an IP address that is the location of the server on which the domain
resides. A domain name is used in URLs to identify the server and local path to files
and server-side scripts. Domain names are also used to identify the server to send
email to.

Download: The process of transferring data from a remote computer to a local

computer. When you copy a file from a computer on the Internet to your computer,
you are "downloading" that file.

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FTP (File Transfer Protocol) – It is used to upload, receive or download files from one
server/computer to another.
HTML: (Hypertext Markup Language) - The language used to build hypertext
documents on the web. HTML is a standard format for presenting information. It is a
type of XML, which is a markup language—meaning that it is not really a language
but a way to classify information. Browsers take information that is formatted in
HTML and display it to the end-user.
HTML uses tags to format information. By applying a tag to information, you classify
that information. With one tag, a set of information is classified as a heading; using
another tag, it is classified as a paragraph.

HTTP: (HyperText Transfer Protocol) - The protocol for moving hypertext (HTML) files
across the Internet. This requires a HTTP client program on one end and a HTTP
server program on the other end. HTTP is the most important protocol used on the
web. It enables html documents to be read on the Internet. 

IP Address - (Internet Protocol) is the number or name of the computer from which
you send and receive information on the Internet. A unique number consisting of 4
parts separated by dots. 123.45.678.9 could be an IP number. Every machine that is
on the Internet has a unique IP number.

Java: A network-oriented programming language invented by Sun Microsystems

specifically designed for creating programs that can be downloaded to your
computer from a web page and immediately run. Using small Java programs
("applets"), Web pages can include features such as animations, calculators and
other fancy or interactive tricks.

PORTAL- It’s a website “gateway” that provides multiple services, such as news,
online shopping, discussion groups.

Protocol: A protocol is a formal description of the format that data has to be in and
the rules for exchanging this data. There may also be rules for error checking and
error correction. As long as the computers on a network are using the same protocol
then they will be able to exchange data correctly.

The Internet Protocol Suite is the set of communications protocols used for the
Internet and other similar networks. It is commonly also known as TCP/IP, named
from two of the most important protocols in it:

 The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

 The Internet Protocol (IP).

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The TCP provides the service of exchanging data directly between two networked

computers while the IP is used to route data packets between networks and over the
Internet.

Search engine-- It’s a specialized software that lets

users search for information on the internet. E.g.
Yahoo, AltaVista.

Upload: The process of transferring data from a

local computer to a remote computer. When you
copy a file from your computer to a computer on the
Internet, you are "uploading" that file.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is an address to a

document on the Internet. For most web pages, a URL begins with a protocol (http://
or https://) followed by the domain and path to a file. Most web links send you to a
URL that will display content located at that URL address. Most browsers display the
URL in the address bar (usually located at the top of the
page).

Web pages– These are what make up the World Wide Web
(www). They are made using the HTML
(Hypertext Markup Language) and are
translated by the web browser. A website is
a collection of web pages.

WWW: (World Wide Web): is a collection of

interconnected documents and other resources, linked by hyperlinks and URLs and is
just one of the services that use the Internet.

The terms Internet and World Wide Web are often used in everyday speech

without much distinction. However, the Internet and the World Wide Web are not
one and the same. The Internet is a global data communications system. It is a
hardware and software infrastructure that provides connectivity between computers.
In contrast, the Web is one of the services communicated via the Internet. It is a
collection of interconnected documents and other  resources, linked
by  hyperlinks  and  URLs.

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The ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES of using the internet

Advantages Disadvantages

 Millions of people contribute  There is lots of useless information so

information.
 Data can be rapidly added and
updated to reach a huge audience.
 It can be used to sell goods to a
world-wide market
it can be hard to find what you want
 Most of the information is biased or
inaccurate
 As it is not regulated, illegal or
offensive materials exist
 Hackers could try to hack into a
computer from somewhere else in
the world

INTRANETS
An intranet is the name given to a private network that
provides similar services to The Internet: e-mail, messaging,
web pages, etc.  However, these services are only for the
users of the intranet – they are private, not public (unlike
Internet services which are generally public). Businesses and
other organisations often have intranets for use by their
employees. Typical uses of an intranet would be: 

 Viewing internal web pages (e.g. company calendars,

etc.)
 Internal e-mail and instant-messaging between workers
 Sharing of internal documents

Advantages Disadvantages

 An Intranet is free to use because it does  Information cannot be

not involve phone links. shared outside the local
 Information can be easily updated and network without logging
shared inside a company or school. onto the Intranet.
 The web pages can be viewed using
a standard web page browser.
 More of the information will be useful
because it was created for particular users. 

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NETWORK SECURITY
The file server must ensure that people can only access files that they are permitted
to. Most file servers do this by making each user log on with a user name and
password before they can access any files. Servers can better control access and
resources, to guarantee that only those clients with the appropriate permissions
may access and change data.

USER ID & PASSWORD

A user Id (user identification) and password is used to control the access to

computers or computer networks. Each user must enter a unique username and a
password to log on.

USER ID (also called username)

The USE of User ID The PURPOSE of User ID

 The use of the user ID is  The purpose of the user ID is

to control access levels for the
files and settings on the
computer or network.

 Some users will only have

READ access to files while
others may have READ,
COPY and DELETE access.
 Controlling access levels
can limit which users can
install software or
change the computer
setup.
 In a school network, the
administrator would
have the highest level of to identify who the user is when they
access, followed by staff log on.
and then pupils.

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PASSWORD

The USE of a PASSWORD The PURPOSE of a PASSWORD

 The use of of a password is  The purpose of a password is to

therefore to make sure that only prevent a hacker logging on with
the genuine user is logging on. someone else's user ID.

 The password is a secret combination of letters and/or numbers to prevents

someone accessing a computer system with a user ID that was not their own.
 A strong password should have at least six characters and should be a random
combination of letters (uppercase and lowercase) and numbers. 
( 'Xf5r4723hj' would be much better than 'Dylan' for example)
 Protecting passwords - to protect passwords from hackers, the system
should:

o Force the user to change passwords regularly (the longer you use a
particular password, the more likely it is that it may be discovered and the
longer it can be used).
o Have an automatic lockout if a password is wrongly entered too many
times. This may prevent a hacker repeatedly trying to guess a password.

Authentication: is the process of determining if a user or entity is who he/she claims

to be. This is done with the help of user ID and password.

Different methods of communication

FAX (facsimile)
Fax is short for ‘facsimile’ which means ‘copy’. A fax
machine is a device that can send a copy of a paper
document over the telephone network.

 The sending fax converts the light/dark areas of

the printed document into noises.
 These noises travel through the phone system and
are received by another fax machine.
 The receiving fax
machine converts the noises into printed marks on
a piece of paper - making a copy of the original document.

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In many corporate environments, standalone

fax machines have been replaced by "fax servers" and
other computerized systems capable of receiving and
storing incoming faxes electronically, and then
routing them to users on paper or via an email (which
may be secured). Such systems have the advantage of
reducing costs by eliminating unnecessary printouts
and reducing the number of inbound analogue phone lines needed by an office.

ALTERNATIVES

One popular alternative is to subscribe to an  internet fax service. Fax service

providers allow users to send and receive faxes from their personal computers using
an existing email account. No software, fax server or fax machine is needed. Faxes
are received as attached  TIFF  or  PDF files. Another alternative to a physical fax
machine is to make use of computer  software  which allows people to send and
receive faxes using their own computers.

E-mail (Electronic mail)

E-mail is a system that allows messages to be sent and received by computers.
E-mail is the most common form of electronic communication. E-mail messages
are text-based, but other types of file can also be sent as ‘attachments’.
An e-mail message usually has the following parts:

To The address(es) of the person

who the message is for
Subject A short sentence describing
what the message is about
Messages The text of the message. This
can be as long as you like

An e-mail may also include the following parts:

CC The address(es) of people to copy

the e-mail to (Carbon Copy)
BCC The address(es) of people to copy
the e-mail to without anyone else
knowing (Blind Carbon Copy)
Attachments Files linked to the message
(images, documents, etc.)

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To send and receive e-mail, you need to have an e-mail address. An address is made
up of two parts: a username and an e-mail provider, with an '@' symbol in the
middle. E.g. Example@yahoo.com

Problems associated with E-mails

Attachment size limitations results in information overload for

Email messages may have one or more
attachments. E-mail service providers
implement various limitations on the
permissible size of files or the size of an
entire message. Furthermore, due to
technical reasons, often a small
attachment can increase in size when
sent, which can be confusing to senders
when trying to assess whether they can
or cannot send a file by e-mail, and this
can result in their message being
rejected.
Spamming and computer viruses
Spamming is unsolicited commercial (or
bulk) e-mail. Because of the very low
cost of sending e-mail, spammers can
send hundreds of millions of e-mail
messages each day over an inexpensive
Internet connection. Hundreds of active
spammers sending this volume of mail
many computer users who receive
voluminous unsolicited e-mail each day.
E-mail worms use e-mail as a way of
replicating themselves into vulnerable
computers.
E-mail spoofing
E-mail spoofing occurs when the
header information of an email is
altered to make the message appear to
come from a known or trusted source.
It is often used as a ruse to collect
personal information.
E-mail bombing
E-mail bombing is the intentional
sending of large volumes of messages
to a target address. The overloading of
the target email address can cause it to
become unusable and can even cause
the email server to crash.

VIDEO CONFERENCING
Video-conferencing is a system that allows
people to have conversations and
meetings with other people in different
locations, but without leaving their office.
A video-conference involves people sitting
in front of a camera and a microphone,

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whilst watching other people of a screen and listening to them through

loudspeakers.

Note: The camera is usually TV quality - much better than a standard webcam.

The system uses the following hardware:

 Video camera
 Monitor
 Microphone
 Loudspeakers
 High-speed network / Internet connection

Video conferencing is very popular with

businesses as it means:

 No travel costs
 No time wasted travelling to other cities /
countries
 Can organise meetings at short notice

Mobile Phones
The first hand held phone was demonstrated by
Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973, using a handset weighing in at two kilos. In the
year 1990, 12.4 million people worldwide had cellular subscriptions. By the end of
2009, only 20 years later, the number of mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide
reached approximately 4.6 billion, 370 times the 1990 number.

Mobile phone (also called mobile, cellular phone, cell phone or

handphone) is an electronic device used for full duplex two-way
radio telecommunications over a cellular network of base
stations known as cell sites. Mobile phones differ from cordless
telephones, which only offer telephone service within limited
range through a single base station attached to a fixed land line,
for example within a home or an office. Low-end mobile phones
are often referred to as feature phones, whereas high-end
mobile phones that offer more advanced computing ability are referred to as
smartphones.

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A mobile phone allows its user to make and receive telephone calls to and from the
public telephone network which includes other mobiles and fixed line phones across
the world. It does this by connecting to a cellular network owned by a mobile
network operator. A key feature of the cellular network is
that it enables seamless telephone calls even when the
user is moving around wide areas via a process known as
handoff or handover.

In addition to being a telephone, modern mobile phones

also support many additional services, and accessories,
such as SMS (or text) messages, email, Internet access,
gaming, Bluetooth, infrared, camera, MMS messaging,
MP3 player, radio and GPS.

SOURCES:

• http://en.wikipedia.org

• http://gcsecomputing.org.uk

• http://www.igcseict.info

• http://klbict.co.uk/gcse

• http://mason.gmu.edu

• http://domainavenue.com

• http://webonizer.com

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